Burning Leaves
by WhisperedSilvers
Summary: She was She refused to believe that she was She would defy the laws of nature and put an end to this war, consequences be But when temptation comes toward her in the form of Adonis, Sakura's torn from doing what's right and what she But all is fair in love and Minato/Sakura
1. Awaken

**And **_if_ I **may **_just_ take **your** _breath_ away

**I **_don't_ mind**if **_there's_ not **much** _to_ say

**Sometimes** _the_ silence **guides** _our_ minds

**So **_move_ to **a **_place_ so **far **_away_

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_**Burning Leaves**_

_**Chapter One: Awaken**_

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"I hope you rot in hell, you little prick." Sakura spat, her fists rolled tight against her hips. Her emerald orbs flared bright against the red smoke that dispersed along the wire ropes of fire. It had been a brutal fight, Sasuke gripped the edge of his kantana- blood dripping down the metallic edges.

She blocked every blow he threw at her, and lunged forward his fireballs coming at her, like speeding bullets. One fireball brushed the side of her arm holster, the burn wasn't bad enough to be called a burn, but it was definitely a distraction.

"I won't let it end, not like this." He grimaced, his voice low and raspy. He was breathing hard as she was, both battered and bruised.

"Don't worry, even if I do die," Sakura paused and smoothed her tattered remains of her black leather gloves, she flashed her emerald orbs- determination and malice laced her words, "_I'll take you down with me._"

Sasuke remained quiet, her cold frigid words startled him. The amount of determination and will that caressed her tone, he was pretty certain that he she meant her words. He gripped his right hand and summoned his newly formed chidori, he was running out of chakra- fast and hard. Sakura summoned chakra into a ball, she'd deflect it the same way Naruto did with his rasengan- except this time there would be no interruptions.

He lunged forward his speed and power was taking a toll on his body, but he persisted. Sakura let out a war cry and sprinted forward. Suddenly, Sasuke's chidori vanished and her eyes widened. With the quick twists and flips of his fingers he tried to distribute a jutsu, but Sakura was unable to call of her attack and midway into the formation of his jutsu, her hand smashed into his ribcage and _stupidly_ her eyes caught hold of his sharingan, she nearly gasped because his sharingan was _blue_.

That's where the sweet_ sweet_ darkness began to take over her sight.

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"_Neh, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, he rolled over onto his stomach, his hands flat against the grass. He blinked his sky blue orbs at Sakura's unmoving face. Her eyes were shut closed, her face smooth and wiped of emotion._

"_Hm?" She mumbled, not asleep but not alert either. _

"_Do you think Sasuke will come back?" He asked quietly._

_Sakura was silent, "I don't know." She didn't like the answer, but Sasuke had changed, and it was not for the better. "War does things to people."_

"_Then why is there war?"_

_Sakura smiled bitterly, "You cannot have peace without a war."_

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She felt a jabbing motion on her cheek, she couldn't decide whether she was alive or dead. The silence and blackness was warm and welcoming. She could stay like this forever, not laying, not flying but floating, in a sea of darkness.

Her body felt light, the darkness wrapped around her body in a silk glove.

The prodding continued, she twitched. So maybe she wasn't dead, maybe she was dreaming. The annoyance that was continuing to ensure, that indeed the finger was intent on wreaking havoc on her cheek. Irritation flashed quickly to her veins just as her hand was quick to catch the probing appendage.

"What. The. Hell. Are. You. Doing." Sakura enunciated through clenched teeth, her patience was wavering on non-existent and she refused to open her eyes and have her retinas burn at the obnoxious figure above her.

"Well, excuse me. You are lying on _our_ training grounds." The childish voice commented and Sakura snapped her eyes open.

Wasn't she in a middle of a war? Vaguely, she remembered Sasuke's attack and how his sharingan had turned blue. Had she died? Because she certainly didn't remember dying, nor did she have overwhelming pain.

Her vision sharpened and a small boy- no older than thirteen loomed over her, a childish pout plastered on his face. He had dark hair that curled over his face, orange goggles and dark eyes. He looked like a cuter, more expressive and smaller version of a relative of Sasuke. She blinked hard, maybe she was stuck in a limbo…?

"Are you OK?" He asked, concern clouded his dark obsidian orbs and made her heart melt. Gods above, he was adorable.

"Am I dead?" She asked vaguely, she wasn't expecting an answer- but the girl next to the boy smiled grimly. She looked towards the dark haired boy in question, he merely nodded in reply.

"Yes, I guess you can say this is the afterlife." The girl replied. She had chocolate brown orbs, two purple marks streaked down her face. Her facial structure was delicate, a slim nose and pointy cheekbones. She was really _pretty_.

Sakura closed her eyes hard, maybe she'll wake up and see Naruto yelling at her to stay awake, and maybe she'll realize that she _did_ in fact kill Sasuke, or maybe _she really is dead_. "So, I'm dead?"

Sakura refused to believe she was dead, she was _Sakura Haruno_- she was too fucking stubborn to give up!

"Pretty much."

Sakura sat up and crossed her legs. The grass was soft against her bare legs, her hands moved to probe her body. No injuries, she frowned. She was certain that Sasuke did some _form_ of damage. She tried to ignore the two kids that were eagerly watching her poke her skin, and then sighed in defeat. "What are your names?"

"My name's Obito." His voice was loud and obnoxious, it instantly reminded her of Naruto.

"I'm Rin."

Sakura's eyes widened and the words flew out of her mouth before she could stop herself, "Weren't you on Kakashi-sensei's Genin team?"

Obito's eyebrows shot up, "You know Kakashi?"

"Kakashi-sensei?" Rin asked a second after. Her eyes widened before she quickly added, "You're Kakashi's student?"

"Sadly," she grumbled, standing up she assessed her surroundings- it certainly did look like a training field, but more of a forest than a training field. "Porn loving bastard was so goddam oblivious."

"Kakashi likes porn?" Rin exclaimed, her eyebrows shot up straight to her hairline.

"Unfortunately." Sakura muttered and then pointed to Obito, "I'm pretty sure there has to more dead people, this place is empty."

"Everyone's back at the house, we only come out here to train." Rin answered, her eyes moving to the opposite side of the path Sakura was laying on.

"Well, are you going to take me there?" Sakura snapped, her patience was running thin. She didn't know where she was, she didn't know what the hell was going on, maybe she was going insane and these Chunin made her want to scream- because their obliviousness was _so_ like Kakashi it was frustrating.

Obito raised a brow and commented dryly, "How about saying please."

Sakura smiled so sweetly that both Chunin felt their hackles rise, "You show me wherever these so called," she used air quotes here, "'dead people' are, or I will throw you into a tree."

Obito laughed nervously, "We can't have that now, can we."

Smartly, Rin latches herself onto Obito and they walk quickly. Sakura follows them slowly, her feet may be able to keep up with the children, but her mind was far away. She swallows thickly, maybe something went wrong, maybe Sasuke's sharingan did something; perhaps it was a side-effect. She didn't want to think, she really didn't want to think about it- because it _scared_ the living shit out of her.

The house was long, it looked more of a shrine then a house. It was the color of aged paper, it had the modern tatami mat and bamboo fence. Towards the left of the house had a small lake with shrubs to protect its modesty and a hot spring. Sakura had mused that there was probably a good handful of ninja that died, so bathrooms were probably non-existent. Towards the right of the house was garden and a few hills. The landscaping was peaceful and looked deliberate.

Feeling a bit insecure, Sakura slipped her boots off and entered the shrine- right behind Obito and Rin. Obito knocked on the slide in door before opening it, he announced cheerfully, "Looks like we have a newbie!"

The chatter in the room immediately stopped and Sakura walked into the door. She shouldn't be nervous, but she was walking into a room full of _dead people_. She tried to ignore the stares, but the she heard a gasp and that is what caught her attention.

"_Sakura!"_

Sakura snapped her head and she nearly came with the overwhelming urge to cry, "Jiraiya-san!"

He sat in the back of the room, his leg was propped up under his chin, and he looked stunned to see her standing in front of him. Quickly he got up to his feet and dashed towards her, stumbling only once. "Well, you filled out quite well."

Sakura's eyebrow twitched when she felt his lecherous eyes on her chest, snapping her fist forward he flew back into the wall. "You pervert!"

The rest of the ninjas in the room blanched at her display of raw strength, Obito and Rin looked at her shock. There wasn't even a hint of chakra in the hit and that scared the two Chunin. She stomped towards him, her eyebrow flexing dangerously. "Now, what the _hell_ is going on?"

Jiraiya sighed and rubbed the lump over his head, "Tsunade raised a fine clone," He sat back onto the wall and put his arms under his chest, "Well as you can see you are dead."

Sakura sobered up, "Yeah, I noticed."

"How?" His eyes narrowed.

Sakura took a seat in front of him and ignored the boring stares. "Sasuke." She said his name as if it was explanation, it probably was.

"He killed you?" He asked in disbelief, his eyes were wide.

Sakura growled, "Yes."

"I always thought that he was in love with you, that he would never be able to kill you." Jiraiya said thoughtfully, his hand stroking his chin.

Sakura's emotionless face finally crumpled, she burst out laughing without mirth. "What _bullshit_." She finally stopped when she saw his frightened face at her maniacal laughter. "Anyway, Naruto killed all the Peins, and the village is destroyed. Tsunade had been in coma and Danzo took control. Sasuke killed Danzo, the village is under reconstruction. And we are at war."

"Another war?" A new voice asked, his voice was rough and cold, sort of like Sasuke's.

Jiraiya looked over toward the voice and nodded once. "Sakura this is Fugaku Uchiha, he was the head of the police force before the Kurama attacked the village."

Sakura turned her head, Fugaku had the same black hair and black eyes as the Uchiha's. The lines on his nose and the hard jaw was a hard give away that this man was Itachi's father. Sasuke looked _nothing_ like him. "You look more like Itachi."

The man's eyes widened a fraction, "Well, yes. I am his father."

"That means Sasuke looks like his mother." Sakura nodded her head, and then turned back to Jiraya.

"You seem to take this pretty well," he raised an eyebrow, "I thought you would, ah what do those young people say nowadays." He used air quotes, "Freak out?"

"I've seen Naruto naked, nothing scares me anymore." Sakura said blankly.

Jiraiya threw his head back and laughed, "I'm not sure if I want to know. So tell me, how is that knucklehead doing?"

She scowled, "He's being stupid and reckless as usual. He's been secluded outside of the war, trying to master his Sage Mode. He doesn't even know there is a war, but I'm not going to hold my breath- because sooner or later, he is going to notice. Madara is back and somehow, he over took Obito's corpse, so he's using that as a projectile." Sakura shook her head, "Sasuke being the gullible dumbass he is, is siding with Madara. I ran into him when I was heading toward the Medical Unit and I ended up fighting him. Honestly, I wanted to beat some sense into the jackass- I swear if Naruto doesn't kill him, I will go back and _kill _him myself."

Jiraiya nodded, "That sounds just like him, tell me how long the war has been going on for?"

"Well, I'm twenty-three right now, so maybe seven years." Sakura answered back solicitously. She looked across the room, maybe it was the way the war had changed her. She wasn't used to surprises anymore. So it really shouldn't have bothered her when she saw the First and Second Hokage battling enthusiastically in a game of Shogi. Or the Third Hokage smoking a pipe speaking to a handful of Jounin.

"Sakura."

She snapped out of her daze and turned to face Jiraiya, he was smiling widely and something about that smile reminded her of Ino- how she would like to shove blind dates in her face and set her up with a guy. And then Sakura concluded that she really didn't like that smile. "This is Minato, you know the Fourth Hokage and also one of my students."

Next to Jiraiya stood a man, and yes a man. He had thick blonde hair, messy and it framed the sides of his face. A hard jaw, pale skin and the _bluest_ sets of eyes she has ever seen. He was tall, _taller than Naruto_. And just _holy shit this is Naruto's dad._

Sakura swallowed hard, "Er, Hi."

He smiled, sunny and bright. "Hello."

'_Holy hell, Naruto your dad is hot.'_

He was dazzling and sparkling and wow. Scratch her brain with a toothpick, how is _he_ Naruto's dad? Not even Sasuke's dad was _hot_, how did that happen? His mother must be gorgeous. Sakura swallowed the saliva that was starting to form in the back of her glands, because _this_ was totally wrong. This was her best friend's dad, nope. He was off limits.

"Are you Naruto's dad?" She asked, her had cocking to the side.

He rose a fine eyebrow, "Yes," He looked at the scratch on her arm from the Kurama, apparently even in the afterlife, that mark stayed on her arm like a birthmark. "What is your relationship with my son?"

She glowered, "Basically I'm his mother." Not noticing the way his eyebrows raised at the statement she continued, "I make sure he eats food _other_ than ramen, I heal his sorry ass when he gets reckless, I take care of him when he gets sick, I glower and scowl when the villagers talk shit about him and I never will turn my back on him."

Sakura huffed and turned to her side, her eyes closed as she remembered her blonde idiot. She felt a warm hand on her face and her eyes snapped open.

Strong fingers curled against a wayward strand of pink hair, neatly he tucked the piece of hair behind her ear. Shocks of heat and static frazzled her nerves, because _he touched her_ and it was casual too. No _one_ had ever did something so intimate and deliberate as he did. Widened green orbs turned to face him, her pulse sped up _fast_.

The hand that touched her rested on her left shoulder, she felt the heat of his hand imprint and burn into her skin. It was a spontaneous action, normal and appropriate, _but it just never happened to her before._

"Thank you for looking after my son, when I couldn't." He smiled that angelic smile of his and his tone was warm and grateful.

_And she knew right then and there, she was screwed._

* * *

This will be a side project until I finish "Radar."

This is completely out of my comfort zone, I never wrote anything like this before. I would suggest you read "Radar" its a MinaSaku fic too.

_I want fanart. *glares*_

_**Please Review!**_


	2. Number 0169

_That feeling that doesn't go away, just did_

_And I walked a thousand miles to prove it_

_And I'm caught in the crossfire of my own thoughts_

_The color of my blood is all I see on the rocks_

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_**Burning Leaves**_

_**Chapter Two: Number 0169**_

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Her feet dangled in the water, her delicate ankles brushed the layered dirt of the land. Sakura could feel a headache form behind her left eye, this day had taken its sweet time to end. It started with her being dead and ended up with her salivating over her best friend's father- _whom, which was married!_ Muttering inaudibly, Sakura rubbed her forefinger and middle finger against the tender flesh of her temple.

Sakura knew she was going _insane_. It wasn't like she saw the First, Second and the Third play shogi every day. It bothered her that- _she didn't feel dead_. Maybe it was a limbo, maybe she really wasn't dead. She wondered if she could find a library, or something that _had_ information.

Sakura clenched her teeth when she felt something burn into her collarbone. It was hot, _too hot_. Like a curling iron branding into your skin. It hurt, it really _hurt_- she couldn't find her voice to scream in utter agony as the branding got hotter and hotter. She ripped part of her shirt to investigate the cause of her pain. On her right shoulder, where her collarbone meets her upper arm, a scarlet mark started to glow. She wanted to shout but the blood pounding in her ears and the hard shuddering breaths wracked her body and left her mouth dry.

Then the pain stopped.

Instantly, she released a sigh of relief. Sweat beaded down her face, exertion had prodded her figure. The mark's light diminished and then _numbers_ were left in its place.

_Number 0169_, Sakura's eyebrows furrowed, _is this a calling card of some sort? _

The numbers were in thick and chunky. She traced the numbers with her forefinger and was surprised to feel a zing of sparks. Her eyes widened, the numbers had chakra in it!

Chakra systems vary from clans to shinobis to civilians. Shinobi born into shinobi clans, automatically have chakra systems- much more advanced than those who are civilians. Everyone has chakra systems. Civilian's chakra systems are undeveloped, weak and small. For civilians to become shinobi- they must deepen their chakra reserves and work hard to become a shinobi. Those who are from clans or shinobi parents have an advantage over them- making it much easier for them to use chakra. Ninjutsu and genjutsu use chakra, however taijutsu does not.

Rock Lee had no talent in Ninjutsu or genjutsu, because his chakra systems function differently due to a minor birth defect. His chakra system can only be used to keep him alive and not to be used. Because of this result Lee focuses mostly on taijutsu.

Because chakra is moving energy, it surprised Sakura that the energy was moving inside the numbers and not around her body. It was imprinted on her skin like a tattoo.

"You got one too, huh?" A voice snapped Sakura out of her thoughts. Blinking rapidly she turned her head to the sound and wanted to twitch.

"What do you mean by, 'too'?" She asked, looking at a nearby tree trying to distract herself before she can blurt out something stupid.

Almost carelessly, the blonde used his pointer finger to pull down his high collar of his cape. He had a number also along his neck, but instead of horizontal like hers, his was vertical. _Number 06461._

Sakura sighed uneasily, when she saw the numbers dance teasingly along his neck veins- and she really needed a grip on her hormones. "Does everyone have them?"

Minato shook his head and took a seat next to her.

Sakura scowled into the reflection of the water. _Sure, just invite yourself next to me. It's not like I find you attractive, or anything for that matter._

"Only specific people have them. I have one, Jiraiya-sensei, Fugaku, Mikoto, Shisui, and the First, The Second, The Third, Itachi, Rin, Obito and you." Minato narrowed his eyes at her.

Sakura didn't know whom half of those people were. "Do you know what they are? Or what they stand for?"

"Of course not." He dismissed airily.

_That was helpful_. Sakura was growing more annoyed with him as the seconds passed and he wasn't even doing anything remotely frustrating. She was sick of sitting down and waiting from _something_ to happen. She was a woman of action and she _needed _to do something.

"Well, I'll uh- see you later." She squeaked out and shot up onto the balls of her feet, surprising Minato _again_.

"And may I ask where you're going?"

_He is __**so**__ Naruto's father._

"Exploring." Came her stiff reply.

"Mind if I come?" He asked lightly, the wind caressed his blond mane and Sakura could only watch stupefied.

She wanted to scream _why_? Instead she just shrugged at with nonchalance and started to walk away from the shrine. Not caring if Minato was following or not. The training grounds looks like an excellent part to start.

Vaguely, she remembered when she was in the Land of Snow- Naruto had opted out for exploring when he was _ordered_ to be scouting. Scouting and exploring were two very different concepts. Scouting was more of hunting and _what kind of plant is that_ or _there is river nearby ten miles east_ sort of thing. While exploring, Sakura could take a stick and pretend it was a fairy wand and hit Naruto over the head and yell with her very boisterous and Ino-like voice, _Carry me to the chocolate castle, peasant. _ Or something among those lines. But she couldn't do that with the _Fourth Hokage, _goodness no. He was far too mature to do something so juvenile.

The trip to the training grounds was fairly quick and silent. Sakura refused to break the silence and even if she did, just what would she say? Her left foot stumbled over something as she regained her balance on her right foot. It was a tree branch, which looked more like a staff than an actual branch.

With a gleeful grin, she picked up the stick. Now she had a weapon in this weird looking after-life place. The training grounds were more of a forest area, a small stream was just five miles west of the area and a cliff three miles east. Sakura decided to go east, carrying her rather large stick.

"And just what are you planning on doing with that stick?" A musical voice asked.

_Crap, I totally forgot about him_. Sakura nervously laughed, "A minor reassurance."

"Reassurance?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I don't suppose you have kunai."

And that answered that question. She nodded her head back and forth, this was far too _nonchalant_. It wasn't every day that the Fourth Hokage goes exploring with unsuspected pink haired shinobi, nor was it expected that said Hokage was supposed to having casual and pointless conversations. But what was he supposed to do, he technically wasn't the Hokage right now.

As Sakura got closer and closer to the river, she grew more and more suspicious. Weren't river currents supposed to move? The stream lay flat, no disturbance in the water- calm. The rocks were scattered carelessly along the riverbed. The grass was short and looked hazel and green in the sun.

"Weird." She muttered lowly, with her stick in hand, she hopped onto the rocks- oblivious to the Hokage's bewildered face. Across from the river was the thick brush that nearly overcrowded the river's edge into the water. As Sakura was moving closer towards the brush, she slammed into something hard and solid. Shrieking with surprise, she lost her footing and plunged into the waters- landing with an ungraceful splash.

Her head popped up from the water, the disbelief and disgruntlement that was painted on her face made Minato's façade crack. Sakura blinked at him, as if still trying to figure out- _what the hell just happened_. The lines on his face crinkled, but as Sakura kept blinking and_ just the expression on her face_- he succumbed into a fit of deep belly laughter.

Sakura flushed, how _dare_ he laugh at her, in her expense. Pride intact, she stood up and wiped the water that streamed down her shoulders and hips. Noticing that he was still laughing, she turned toward him- glaring. "Are you _done _laughing at me?"

Slowly his laughter turned into soft chuckles, "Sorry, sorry. Your face was just-"

She made a face, "Priceless, yes. Moving on."

The chuckles stopped, a shit-eating grin was placed instead.

_Tch, idiot. _

Thoroughly soaked and humiliated, she turned back to the brush she was trying to cross. Grabbing her trusty tree branch, she poked the air- even though she looked like a complete idiot to Minato, whom was watching- Sakura certainly didn't feel like being smacked into the water again.

About half a foot away, the tree branch hit something solid. Sakura grew confused, she was poking the air and nothing that was visible was preventing her from going further.

_Unless it's_- Her eyes widened.

"Holy shit." Sakura blurted out in awe. "It's a freaking barrier."

Minato arrived next to her before she could even take her next breath, eyes narrowing- he repeated, "A barrier?"

"That's what I just said." She rolled her eyes and poked the air with a stick, showing him that she could not move any closer across the river towards the brush.

"If this was the after-life, why would there be blockades?" She asked mostly to herself, curiously she pressed her hand towards the barrier instead of the stick and gasped when the barrier began to suck at her hand with a vacuuming force. Minato grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back a good few feet away from the barrier.

_That's plasma! This is no damn barrier_!

"I think the stick is very nice weapon." Minato concluded, looking at her saber with much respect.

She sniffed.

_Damn straight, pretty boy._

X

"I would never have pegged you for a bookworm." He said easily, he flicked his to his hair. It glistened in the candlelight.

"I would have never pegged you for being so nosy." She countered back with sarcasm. He didn't have to insult her, or at least she took it as an insult.

Earlier, Sakura had asked the Fourth Hokage if there were any libraries in the shrine. He thought for a minute and nodded his head. The library was inside the shrine, downstairs. But what she didn't understand was why it was sealed.

Her fingers twitched as she opened the book labeled, _The Shrine_.

She read aloud, "The shrine is what you would call the house for the dead. The deceased live humbly in peace within the temple. The shrine is completely different then the surroundings outside the shrine."

She frowned, and Minato raised a questioning eyebrow.

"It's finished."

"That was it?" Minato asked incredulously.

Sakura nodded, "Yeah, the rest of the book is just diagrams of the shrine and what to do when things are misplaced or broken."

His face quickly drew blank.

Sakura picked up the next book that was labeled, _The Afterlife_. Flicking the book open she read the first page.

"If you are reading this book, this means you're not completely stupid." Sakura said, her eye twitching. "This book applies to the people whom have a red number carved onto their body. Those whom have the red number upon their skin are not dead."

She nearly dropped the book, when she read that center and almost forgot to breathe when Minato leaned over her to get a better look. "This area is not the real afterlife. There is a barrier surrounding 5000 acres of the shrine. This barrier is a jutsu put by the Gods, just until those with the red numbers are finished with their task and are released into the real world."

She skimmed through the other pages of the book and was not interested in how the afterlife was created but was curious to see how to get out of the afterlife. "Underneath the sink in the Shrine, there is a paper seal- you must release at the time of revival."

Sakura squealed when the book incinerated right beneath her fingertips, she threw the manuscript as far as she could and watched it disappear into a white light. "Holy shit."

Minato blinked, not entirely sure how to comprehend this situation. "So we're not dead?"

"Apparently not." Sakura beamed, she was _so_ going to kick Sasuke's ass when she gets back into the world of living.

"What's this book?" He asked, picking up a book that was stacked next to her. She quickly grabbed the book and tucked it underneath her arms that were crossed around her chest.

"It's nothing, just a bedtime story." She answered quickly.

He didn't say anything, so she didn't feel the need to do anything. But what was more important was to inspect the seal that was hiding underneath the sink.

It didn't take long for both of them to reach the sink, just as the book had said, there was a purple seal underneath the pipe. Underneath the seal was a piece of attachment paper that read _directions_.

Sakura deadpanned, whomever created this life- surely had a sense of humor.

_Place seal on table during witching hour and proceed to release the chakra that was pressed inside the seal._ _Said chakra will return you towards the present._

It was straightforward and blunt. Sakura liked that, she didn't have time for riddles right now.

"What the hell is witching hour?"

"After midnight." Minato responded immediately, "When Naruto was born I had to place the five prong seal during witching hour, but it has to be the third week of the month, specifically a Thursday."

"So next week is witching hour." She concluded, silently counting the days in her mind.

He nodded.

She thought, she had a week to figure out a plan. Strategize and plan was something all tacticians did. But Sakura was no tactician she just strategized- but because her best friend's boyfriend was tactician, his ways of thinking rubbed off on her. She clenched the book in her hand, till her knuckles turned white.

While Minato was searching for books, she stumbled upon a thick ancient book. It was wide and the paper was aged. It looked like a fairytale book, but she assumed that it was a history book. Why? Simple, the way she had died seemed off. It didn't make sense, the place she lived in for the time being didn't make sense. Hell the _war_ did not make sense.

And some small part of her was hoping, that _maybe_ this book had her answers.

"So um, where do I sleep?" Sakura asked, her voice bleak and soft.

He blinked his _blue blue blue_ orbs of his and said, "There's a free room opposite of the dining room."

She nodded and decided this was the time to disappear.

* * *

The book she stole from the library was not a _bedtime story_, or so she described it. It looked like an ancient bible. Something you would find in a fairytale, but it looked too informative to be a simple story.

Her room was a mix of aged lavender and soft whites. The futon was placed in the corner of the room, adjacent to the window. There was a walking bathroom towards the end of her dresser that was placed on the right of the door. It wasn't the best room in the shrine but it was better than the basement.

She took a quick shower and inhaled the sweet smelling herbal shampoo that was placed in her bathroom. The vanity was a nice touch to the modest powder room. Eager to start reading her book, she plopped onto the bed after throwing clothes onto her body. Her fingers flicked the cover of the book and she began to read.

_Before ninja village ceased to occur, clans were beginning to form. Two powerful shinobi hailed from the Uchiha clan. Madara and Izuna Uchiha were two brothers, strong and very powerful shinobi. Being the eldest Madara had formed a friendship with Hashirama Senju, this friendship disputed quickly as the Uchiha clan planned an ambush. Months of killing and ambushes Madara had chosen his family over friendship. Before bloodshed, Hashirama and Madara had planned to create a village of peace and where their children would grow to be strong warriors. Being rivals, they would both spar till their hearts content. _

_Madara is fiercely protective of his younger brother Izuna, but when Tobirama wounded Izuna during spar- he died in Madara's arms, leaving his older brother his eyes. Thus giving him the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. Soon after the Uchiha Clan abandoned him once the Hokage was announced by the Senju._

_Before he left the village, Madara told Hashirama that he was going to create that village of peace and sought after the Kurama. At the valley of end, both Hashirama and Madara fought for the last time. Hashirama stabbed Madara in the chest and he died at the hands of his best friend._

Sakura blinked tears back, she felt kind of bad for Madara- he was a good person, corrupted, but nevertheless a decenet man. She turned the last page and read a few words in kanji out loud, "_Atone our sins."_

And just like that, instant lights out.

* * *

_Hi_. I start my senior year in two weeks and will be _extremely tight on _updates. I do apologize for any grammar/spelling errors. I am in _dire_ need of a beta reader.

And remembers reviews are _love_.

-Kairi


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